


Barson Tales

by amukmuk



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-04-06 08:06:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19058635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amukmuk/pseuds/amukmuk
Summary: A series of oneshots for your reading pleasure.





	1. Past

             Rafael took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, “I need a moment.” He grabbed his coat off the rack and stormed out of the apartment – slamming the door behind him.

            “Mom? Is everything okay? I said I was sorry,” A teenage Noah hung his head.

            “Everything is certainly not okay, but we will wait until your father is home to discuss it further,” Olivia went to the rack and hastily pulled on her coat. “Wait here until we get back and don’t even think about sneaking off again.” With that, Olivia was out the door to chase after her husband. She knew exactly where he would go, being a creature of habit and not wanting to stray far from home. Just as she expected, he was seated at a bench in the greenspace outside of their apartment, his head in his hands.

            “Rafa,” Olivia approached him gingerly, as if she were approaching an injured animal. “Are you okay?” She placed a hand on his shoulder, but he didn’t budge. “Rafa?”

            “Olivia,” his voice sounded strangled. “I am so angry,” he declared weakly.

            “As we should be,” she took a seat next to him and ran her hand up and down his back. “Noah stole our car, drove to a party, drank underage, and drove home.”

            “I almost lost my temper… Everything went red. God, I’m everything I swore I would never become… A killer, an angry man… My father.”

            “Woah, Rafa, you are nothing like your father. You have never hurt anyone.”

            “Tell that to baby Drew,” he spat.

            “Hey, no, none of that. Rafa, look at me.”

            He still held his head in his hands.

            “Rafael,” she said sternly, and his emerald eyes met her deep brown ones. “Rafael, you are not your father – why were you angry? Hmm? Were you angry because he stole the car? Or were you angry because the situation could have ended up much, much worse?”

            “A little bit of both, I suppose. I think I am angrier that he did something so reckless. Liv, has he learned nothing from what we do? Stupid teenage rebellion, he could have gotten himself killed!”

            “Now, tell me this, why would your father have been angry if you did the same as Noah? Would he have been upset for the same reasons as you are right now?”

            “No, my father would have cared more about the car than me…” he clenched his jaw, thoughts of his childhood flooding back to him.

            “So how are you like your father?”

            He looked at the concrete.

            “Rafa, your past isn’t destined to be your future. You’ve learned from your father’s mistakes just as I have learned from my mother’s.”

            Rafael nodded. “I’m still angry with Noah, he should know better.”

            “Yes, he should,” she nodded. “Now, come on – we have a kid to ground. Hopefully, before he sneaks out and steals the car again."


	2. Vertigo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt provided by thebarsondaily on tumblr :) Hope y'all enjoy.

            “Come on, Dad! We’re not even that high up! Look!”

            Rafael stood on the landing just before the glass floor began, watching Olivia and Noah stand on the viewing deck of the Willis Tower. Rafael, to his own memory, had never really been afraid of heights, but looking out over the glass of the building – all he felt was the nausea of vertigo overwhelming him. He had lived in a city his whole life, being in tall buildings never frightened him, but being a tall building that separated him from certain death with some glass, that was a whole different story.

            “Dad, look!” Noah jumped up causing Rafael to cringe as he landed back on the glass floor of the viewing deck.

            “Noah, stop that,” Rafael chided.

            Liv cracked a smile, “are you scared, Professor Barba?”

            Rafael glared at his beautiful wife. Why he decided to bring them along for this conference in Chicago, he will never know. Now, standing thousands of feet in the air on a plate of glass – he was filled with regret.

            Olivia offered him her hand, “come here, it’s perfectly safe.”

            Tentatively, Rafael shuffled out to the viewing deck with his family, refusing to look at his feet.

            “Dad! Isn’t this awesome!?” Noah exclaimed as he peered down at the world below him. Rafael stopped for a moment, looked at his adoptive son – who was beaming with excitement – and then looked at Olivia – who was absolutely radiant. The sun was illuminating her brown eyes, transforming them to a soft shade of caramel, and as she smiled they crinkled with happiness.

            Just then, a wave of calm washed over Rafael, “Yeah, I guess it is,” and he returned Olivia’s smile.


	3. Compromise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noah shows that he is very clearly his father's son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from the lovely thebarsondaily on tumblr :)

            “Come on, Noah. It’s time for bed,” Rafael stated as he entered the young boy’s room. Noah was sitting on his floor, quietly pushing his hotwheels around the racetrack mat on the floor.

            “But I want ice cream,” the boy protested, sitting up straighter.

            “No ice cream. It’s too late for that.”

            “Okay, then…” the boy paused, clearly stalling to stay up later. “Then five stories!” He held up five fingers splayed out.

            Rafael crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame, “That’s too many. How about two?”

            The boy squinted his eyes, “Four?” He held up four fingers hopefully.

            “How about we compromise at three?”

            “Okay!” The boy jumped onto the bed and let his dad pick out the three stories.

            He was asleep by the end of the first book.

            Rafael silently pushed himself off the bed and tucked his son in, “Te quiero, mijo. Sweet dreams.”

            He left the door cracked open and went into their bedroom, where Olivia sat in bed, reading a book. She was wearing a ratty NYPD t-shirt that – due to its thinning fabric – left very little to the imagination and her hair framed her face in flowing locks.

            “It sounds like we have a future lawyer on our hands,” Olivia commented as Rafael pulled back the blankets.

            “Mhm, he is definitely a Barba – that is for sure.” He climbed into bed. “But the student hasn’t quite surpassed the master,” he leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I am very,” he kissed her neck. “Very,” a kiss to the collar bone. “Good at making deals.”

            “Oh is that right? I thought you preferred putting on a show in the courtroom,” she breathed as he kissed his way back up her neck.

            “Mmm, I’ll show you something, alright,” he growled, and her laugh was swallowed up by a hungry kiss.


	4. Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael says goodbye to the person he loves most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Someone I care for dearly just passed away, so I wrote this. Saying goodbye is always hard, but maybe not so hard when you are rejoined with loved ones.

           The unpleasant smell of death filled the stuffy parlor. It was the first day of June, and the place was packed. Noah and Rafael sat at the front of the room, as the priest finished his last remarks and welcomed Noah to the pulpit.

            Noah, dressed in a black suit with a grey dress shirt, a dark purple tie and a matching pocket square, pulled his notes out of his breast pocket. His hair was greying now, but he slicked it back like the way his father had taught him all those years ago.

            “Many of you here today knew this brilliant woman as Captain Lieutenant Benson, the backbone of Manhattan SVU and the fearless defender of victims, but I knew her as just Mom,” the man looked at his notes for a long time and then crumpled them.

            “I’ve thought a lot about what I was going to say today, about my mother. I thought about discussing her accomplishments at SVU, her lifetime serving others, or maybe even my childhood with two of the best, most selfless parents. Instead, I am going to share a couple memories and lessons she taught me, and I would like to open the floor to everyone here today – so that we can celebrate the life she had and not just mourn her passing,” he cleared his throat. “My mom taught me five things in my life. Firstly, always start your morning with a cup of coffee,” this earned a chuckle from the crowd. “Secondly, always trust your gut. Thirdly, love with an open heart,” he winked at Jesse, who was bouncing a toddler on her lap and holding her oldest baby next to her. “Fourthly, always fight for what you believe in. And lastly, she taught me the meaning of family. Mom was brilliant, steadfast, and honest. I can only hope to live up to her legacy,” Noah looked at his hands and back up at the crowd of mourners who were wiping their eyes as well. “I would like to share a quick story – before I pass it off to the next person –  of the time my parents took me to Florida for the first time in my life. Surprisingly, mom had never seen the ocean before either, I was maybe seven? Oh, I can’t remember. Anyway, Papí and I were swimming in the ocean and mom starts screaming that there is a shark in the water. She sprints after me, grabs my arm – completely not paying attention to my father’s protests.” He chuckled. “She cleared out the beach almost instantly, and it turned out to be dolphins. So, mom, dad, and I sat and watched a mommy, a daddy and a baby dolphin play in the waves until the sun set.”

            He nodded and took his seat next to his father, who looked completely broken. He was thinner than he was when he was Noah’s age, his thick, dark locks were now white, and silver and he sported and equally shiny beard.

            Next up to the pulpit was DA Dominick Carisi, “Hello all, for those of who don’t know me, my name is Sonny Carisi, I worked with Lieu – I mean Olivia Benson when I first started at Manhattan SVU. Olivia helped me become the man I am today, but mostly she gave me the confidence to go after my gal right there, Lieutenant Mandy Rollins-Carisi,” he gave her a wink and stepped down.

            Amanda stepped up and shared a memory from her time with Olivia as well, “Captain Benson saved my life more times than I care to remember. But I think I know her the most as my best friend. We raised our children together, ate popcorn and drank wine on school dance nights. We took turns going to PTA meetings and of course family dinner every Sunday night.”

            A few more people stepped up to speak about Olivia, but there was one person that everyone was hoping would share, but not expecting to. Rafael Barba, at 89 years old, was hunkered over his cane. He spent the last 40 years married to the Great Olivia Benson; people wanted to hear his tales.

            At last, when the final person recounted their memories, Barba stood. Noah rose as well to help his father up to the pulpit. With tears in his eyes, he began, “Liv was the love of my life. We raised one spectacular son and got to see the birth of our two grandchildren. Noah has asked us to recall our favorite memory, so I will share mine,” he choked back tears. “You all know Liv was a terrible cook – Takeout was her idea of decent meal.” The crowd chuckled and patted their eyes. “I love to cook and every night, we would dance in the kitchen while I cooked and wash the dishes together when we were done. She’s my best friend. Liv, I don’t know what I am going to do without you,” he turned, kissed his fingers, and pressed them to the casket.

            Upon returning home with Noah and Jesse, he settled into what had been his and Olivia’s room. He curled up on her side of the bed and pulled the blankets to his chest. “I miss you, mi amor,” he whispered to the pillow.

            “Then come home to me,” he heard her murmur.

            With the peace of hearing his late wife’s voice just one more time, he drifted off, knowing that he would see her soon.


	5. Habit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rafael and Olivia get used to living together.

           Like all couples, Olivia Benson and Rafael Barba struggled to adapt the first couple weeks after moving in together.

            “Ugh! Rafa, come on!” Olivia groaned as Rafael was getting dressed.

            “What?” He asked as he buttoned his shirt.

            “How much effort does it take to put the cap back on the toothpaste?” She asked, petulance flavoring her tone.

            “Oh, I’m sorry,” he apologized earnestly. “It’s just a habit.”

            Feeling bad for being so rude, she walked over and pecked him on the cheek. “It’s okay, I love you.”

            The next learning curve came just days later while Rafael was in the shower. “Olivia, really? Why can’t you pick you hair out of the drain when you’re done in the shower?” Rafael groaned, plucking the hair out of the drain with just his index finger and his thumb. As soon as the blockage was removed, the drain gurgled with life.

            “Oh, I’m sorry, it’s a habit. Normally, I just take it out the next morning when I get in the shower.”

            Feeling guilty for scolding her, he pulled back the curtain, kissed her and said. “It’s okay – I love you.”

            The third incident occurred when Rafael was coming home from work. He opened the door and took a step through only to trip over Olivia’s shoes and land squarely on his hands and knees, briefcase flying open.  

            Olivia, who had been standing in the hallway, witnessed the whole thing.

            He looked up at her with arguably the most exasperated look she had ever seen. She rushed to his aid. “I’m sorry, it’s a habit. I always have to leave in such a hurry.”

            He rose up, knowing good and well that he would be in infinitely sorer the next day. “I know, it’s okay.” He let her kiss him. “I love you.”

            The fourth fiasco occurred late in the evening when Olivia stumbled into the bathroom to relieve her screaming bladder. Except, when she sat down, she fell directly into icy toilet-bowl water. She yelped and then hollered, “Rafael!”

            Up in a flash, he ran into the bathroom and laughed before helping her up. “I know, I know, I’m sorry.”

            “Please, please, put the seat down.”

            “I’m sorry, it’s a habit.”

            “I know, it’s okay – I love you.”

            “I love you too.”

            However, just like couples who live together, they began creating their own habits. For instance, every morning Rafael would wake up and brew enough coffee for the both of them. He made two thermoses, adding a little cream and cinnamon to hers. He never noticed that it’s a habit until one day when she was away at a DNA testing conference. He fixed her thermos out of habit, realized that she wasn’t home, and smiled to himself before he dumped it out and rinsed it. Although it was sinful to dump a cup of coffee, it was even more sinful to drink a perfectly good cup of coffee with cream in it.

            Olivia, funny enough, experienced something similar when Rafael was out of town for a teaching convention – something for college professors who are teaching law. Every night, after dinner she packed a lunch for Noah and her dear professor. As she was putting his lunch box in the fridge, she smiled remember that he wouldn’t be home to take it in the morning. So, she took it instead.

            Their habits were, well, habitual, but the Barba-Benson household was full of life and love. While everyone had their routines and those routines changed as everyone aged, the one thing that never changed was their love for each other.


End file.
